William Rehnquist

William Rehnquist (1 October 1924-3 September 2005) was a member of the US Supreme Court from 15 December 1971 to 3 September 2005, succeeding John Harlan and preceding John Roberts.

Biography
William Rehnquist was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1924, and he became a lawyer after distinguishing himself in the US Air Force in World War II. He held a BA, MA, and LL B degree from Stanford and a Harvard MA. He became a clerk to the US Supreme Court in 1952, a Republican Party politician, and an assistant Attorney-General of the United States under the Nixon administration in 1969. He was confirmed as a US Supreme Court justice in 1971. He dissented from the judgement in Roe v. Wade, and became associated with efforts to remove abortion rights from the federal sphere to the discretion of the states. Appalled by judicial activism, he advocated a classical, minimalist role for the court after the tumult of the 1960s. In 1986, he was appointed by Ronald Reagan to replace Warren Burger as Chief Justice. He was a distinguished author of legal histories and commentaries, and he died in 2005. John Roberts filled the vacant Supreme Court seat.